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A two-day Transformative Scenario Planning (TSP) training workshop on 'Bangalore's Water Futures' was organised by the Indian Institute of Human Settlements (IIHS) in Bangalore from 18 to 19 October.

The aim of the workshop was to engage and train a range of stakeholders including government officials, representatives from NGOs, CSOs and the private sector, researchers and members of the ASSAR India project team in using the TSP methodology. The TSP approach brings together concerned stakeholders from different perspectives, around pressing sets of problems to create narratives that illustrate potential future solutions pathways.

Photo credit: Lucia Scodanibbio

In the workshop, the participants had an opportunity to learn about the different steps that make up a TSP process, from convening stakeholders (step 1 of the TSP) to getting a better understanding of the system (step 2) through a range of exercises (e.g. paired dialogues). In step 3, possible stories about the future of a particular system are constructed and this is followed by brainstorming exercises around ways to respond to each of the four scenarios that are developed, in both an adaptive (step 4) and transformative way (step 5).

In the training, four mock scenarios on the future of Bangalore’s water by 2030 were created around two axes capturing the key driving forces that stakeholders voted on: population growth (stable versus exponential) and water availability (low versus high). The participants then had an opportunity to think about possible next steps with regards to undertaking a full-fledged TSP process in Bangalore, which the IIHS team is now using to plan the way forward.

Photo credit: Tanvi Deshpande

A photo exhibition on ‘Bangalore's Water Futures', based on photographs from IIHS fieldwork conducted in Bangalore over the past two years as part of the ASSAR project, was also displayed.

The workshop was facilitated by Reos Partners, a renowned international organisation in the field of systemic transformation processes.